Shadowed (work in progress)
November 2 2022
My dad reached over and gave me that shoulder squeeze again. “I hope your friends have told you that none of what happened was your fault, because it wasn’t.”
My head bobbed up and down. “I know. I know. I know. It was just a weird, horrible accident. Nobody’s fault, really.” I looked at the clock. “Kaylee’s bus. I’ve got to go.”
And I was up and out.
None of it was my fault.
You know and I know that’s a complete joke. You were over there in your backyard with Bill and Kaylee--Creepy Crawley, the scruffy kid nobody wanted any part of. You would have gone on being Creepy Crawley if I hadn’t sucked you into my life and into basketball. It’s not as if I got you playing hoops because I was Father Teresa who saw you needed a friend. You know that, too. I called you over because I needed somebody to practice against, and you were the only warm body around.
If I’d let you be you, you’d have had nothing to do with basketball, nothing to do with Vike or Bo or Champions, nothing to do with Nooksack. You’d be over there in your house right now, alive.
My dad reached over and gave me that shoulder squeeze again. “I hope your friends have told you that none of what happened was your fault, because it wasn’t.”
My head bobbed up and down. “I know. I know. I know. It was just a weird, horrible accident. Nobody’s fault, really.” I looked at the clock. “Kaylee’s bus. I’ve got to go.”
And I was up and out.
None of it was my fault.
You know and I know that’s a complete joke. You were over there in your backyard with Bill and Kaylee--Creepy Crawley, the scruffy kid nobody wanted any part of. You would have gone on being Creepy Crawley if I hadn’t sucked you into my life and into basketball. It’s not as if I got you playing hoops because I was Father Teresa who saw you needed a friend. You know that, too. I called you over because I needed somebody to practice against, and you were the only warm body around.
If I’d let you be you, you’d have had nothing to do with basketball, nothing to do with Vike or Bo or Champions, nothing to do with Nooksack. You’d be over there in your house right now, alive.
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